The present invention relates to an operator terminal of a mission system including at least one screen for displaying environmental data of a mobile carrier of a situation analysis system, said analysis system including at least one image sensor and means for providing a real-time spatial position of at least one object of interest.
The invention falls within the field of man-machine interaction methods, adapted for configuring mission systems.
A mission system allows one or more operators to carry out a given mission, for example an environment surveillance, reconnaissance or combat mission, using a situation analysis system including various sensors (e.g., radars, cameras, detectors) and/or effectors (e.g., scramblers, decoys). The mission system aggregates information provided by the various sensors, to provide a synthesized vision to the operator, via a man-machine interface (MMI). Furthermore, the operator is led to adjust a set of parameters relative to the sensors and/or effectors and to command the operation of the sensors via the man-machine interface.
Such mission systems are in particular intended to be onboard a mobile carrier (e.g., aircraft, land vehicle, vessel). During reconnaissance or intervention missions, it is useful to acquire images of objects of interest being observed, for example boats, trucks or airplanes, using onboard sensors of the situation analysis system. In general, a situation analysis system includes several picture taking sensors, or sensors able to operate in different picture taking modes.
For example, one type of sensor used is an infrared electro-optical camera, known under the name “forward-looking infrared” (FLIR). It is also possible to generate images of objects of interest by using a radar sensor, in several modes, for example “synthetic aperture radar” (SAR) or “inverse synthetic aperture radar” (ISAR).
A mission system operator is brought to select the appropriate image taking sensor or the appropriate image taking mode to obtain a satisfactory image of an object of interest, under difficult conditions, the carrier and the object of interest potentially being in motion. Furthermore, the operator must account for environmental conditions (visibility, shaking of the carrier) to select an appropriate picture taking moment to obtain a usable image of the object of interest.
Traditionally, it is provided to display indications relative to all of the sensors and the picture taking modes available on board the carrier, in the form of a display table, optionally accompanied by an indication of an “active” or “unavailable” status. Although such indications help an operator, they are insufficient, inasmuch as the carrier and the object of interest are in motion. Thus, an operator can trigger picture taking by a selected sensor just before that picture taking is no longer possible, for example because the object of interest is outside the capture field of the selected sensor.